


I Could Never Leave You

by syriala



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurity, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-12 21:58:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9092320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syriala/pseuds/syriala
Summary: Everyone always assumed that it’s Tony who is lucky to have such an amazing friend as Rhodey, they all figured that it was Tony who should be afraid that Rhodey will leave him one day, but to tell the truth, it has always been Rhodey who has been afraid of that.





	

Everyone always assumed that it’s Tony who is lucky to have such an amazing friend as Rhodey, they all figured that it was Tony who should be afraid that Rhodey will leave him one day, but to tell the truth, it has always been Rhodey who has been afraid of that.

He is afraid Tony will realize how boring _he_ is, he wants in the army because he likes their rules, and he isn’t as smart as Tony, he can’t keep up with him, he can’t give anything to him and he is a black gay man on top of that.

So he figures it’s only a matter of time before Tony leaves him for someone more interesting, before he finds other friends who can keep up and then he will leave Rhodey.

And it’s fine, Rhodey is fine with that, no problem at all.

But it doesn’t happen, Tony is still around after all these years, but then he meets the Avengers.

And Rhodey hears how Tony talks about them and he realizes that this is it, Tony is going to leave him behind now and even though Rhodey cannot imagine someone more worthy of Tony’s attention and friendship it still hurts like hell.

Rhodey pulls away, gives Tony the space he is going to want with his new team, with his new friends.

He still answers Tony’s calls, because he cannot quite quit Tony cold turkey, but he keeps these calls short and he makes up excuses why he can’t come to visit Tony anymore and he manages to not see him for quite some time.

And then one day, Tony is at his home, all red eyed and sniffling and Rhodey is on instant alert cause if the fuckers have hurt him, he is going to eviscerate them.

When he asks what’s wrong Tony pulls up one of his masks and snappishly says “Why don’t you tell me? I mean I knew you would get fed up with me eventually but I also thought you would be man enough to admit it.”

And Rhodey is hurt and he has military masks he can use and he pulls up one as well and snipes back “I thought the same about you actually.”

That’s enough to make Tony’s mask crumble cause that was not what he was expecting.

Rhodey sees his chance to cut his losses right here and there so he forces his voice to be hard when he says “It’s not like I expected this to last forever so it’s alright, you don’t have to pretend or try to make time for me. It’s not like I have much time anyway, with all the messes you and your new friends make. Putting out your fires will probably always be my job even long after we are no longer friends.”

And that’s it, Rhodey can see it, the moment Tony gets it, because the masks come back up in a second and Tony’s posture gets all hard and rigid.

Tony says “Fine, if that’s what you want,” and he turns around without a look back, not willing to let Rhodey see him cry if their friendship meant that little to him to begin with.

Rhodey is hurt and upset himself but he also figures it’s best like this, where they cut it clean off and anyway, Tony has people who protect him now, he doesn’t need Rhodey any longer.

So he lets it go and tries not to think about it anyone. Right until Sam Wilson nearly breaks his door down, Bucky in tow.

Rhodey nearly has a heart attack because what if Tony is hurt, before he remembers that no one would come to tell him any longer and isn’t that just a thought that hurts.

“You need to come back and let Tony apologise for whatever it is that he did, please,” Sam says and for a second the words don’t register properly.

“He needs to do what?” Rhodey asks and Bucky pushes past him into the house.

“Let him apologise,” Bucky says. “We know he can be stubborn and a bit much but you two have been friends for so long, there is no way anything he did could ruin that.”

“Just let him apologise,” Sam says again.

“What makes you think he did anything?” Rhodey asks.

“Because he wouldn’t tell us what exactly happened, he only said that it’s his fault, he should have known better.”

“It wasn’t that bad right?” Sam asks, now a bit more careful in the face of Rhodey’s shock.

“Of course it’s not…. That’s not… He didn’t…. He has you now,” Rhodey finally settles on.

“What do you mean he has us now?” Bucky asks

“He doesn’t need me anymore. He was only my friend because there was no one else around but he has you, the team now, he doesn’t need to pretend any longer to be my friend.”

“You fucking idiot,” is Bucky’s enthusiastic response to that.

“He has been moping in his work shop ever since he came back from you; he barely eats, he doesn’t look at Dummy and I saw him cry one time!” Sam yells. “You better come back right now and fix this.”

“Does he want it to be fixed?” Rhodey asks and he guesses Sam wants to punch him, going by the murderous look on his face.

“Did you not listen to him?” Bucky asks incredulously and points at Sam.

“But that’s just how Tony deals with a breakup,” Rhodey says in lack of a better word. “He’s dramatic. He mopes a few days and then he goes back to normal. I won’t come with you,” Rhodey states and very determinedly steers them out of his house. “He will be back to normal in a few days, a week at most,” and with that he closes the door right in their faces.

Rhodey is pretty sure that the next week is actually the worst he ever had, apart maybe from the time Tony was missing in Afghanistan, but he constantly worries, picks up the phone more times than he cares to count, but he stays strong.

He doesn’t call, he doesn’t go to see Tony and he just waits it out. He told Sam and Bucky the truth after all. Tony loved his dramatics, and whenever he broke up with someone, he took a week to wallow in self-pity before he went back to normal, not even sparing a thought to the other person.

Rhodey selfishly hoped that Tony would always look back fondly at their friendship, that maybe he had managed to leave a lingering impression but he didn’t kid himself. Tony was never going to stay, and no matter what he takes away from their time together, it would never be enough to justify staying friends. Not now, that Tony has found interesting friends, ones who can keep up with him and keep him on his toes. Tony did always love the thrill.

He half expected Bucky and Sam to come back once the week he gave them was up, but they didn’t.

Rhodey scoffed at that, unsure if he was pleased with his prediction or not.

It took him two more days to realize that he was very much not pleased, that he really had hoped that their friendship would be more compared to the relationships Tony had in the past and it hurt, worse than Rhodey ever could have thought, to finally realize that Tony would go on without him now; he probably didn’t even think about him anymore.

When it knocked on Rhodey’s door again, almost two weeks had past and Rhodey was trying very hard not to think about the fact that this wouldn’t be some Avengers to try and get him to talk to Tony. That ship had sailed.

To say that Rhodey was surprised to be faced with Tony once he opened the door was an understatement.

Tony looked horrible; he was pale, his eyes were red and glistening with tears, there was grease everywhere and it looked like Tony hadn’t showered in days. Rhodey almost thought that Tony also had lost a lot of weight but it was difficult to make out under the clothes.

“What do you want?” he asked and Tony’s lip wobbled.

“What did I do?” he asked, voice very small and broken and Rhodey didn’t want to do anything else but wrap him up in a hug. “Please, just tell me what to do, I can change, I can apologize, I will grovel if you want, but please, _come back,”_ Tony pleaded, voice breaking halfway through and a tear made its way down his cheek.

“Tony,” Rhodey said heart painfully constricted and he barely could breathe.

He pulled Tony into a hug then, unwilling to deny them both the comfort, but Tony stayed rigid in his arms even though his hands clutched almost painfully to Rhodey.

“Just tell me how to make this right again,” Tony mumbled into Rhodey’s shirt.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Rhodey told him and Tony shook his head.

“I have to. _You left_. You left me. What did I do, Rhodey, please, I promise to be better.”

“Tones, no. It’s not your… You don’t need me anymore,” Rhodey lowly admitted and Tony pulled back.

“What do you mean I don’t need you anymore? I will always need you.”

“Not true, and you know it,” Rhodey said with a little shake of his head. “You have new friends now. Friends who can keep up with you, who are interesting. You don’t need me.”

“What do they have to do with anything?” Tony asked him.

“I always knew that you would leave. I was nice to you, and you needed that, but I also knew I could never be enough to hold your attention for long. I’m not as smart, not as rich, I am with the army all the time, there was nothing I could give you. I always knew you would leave as soon as someone came along who could give you everything you need.”

“ _You_ are everything I need,” Tony almost sobbed. “Please come back, Rhodey. They can never replace you. I will move out, I can quit the team if that is what you want, I don’t have to talk to any of them ever again, please, _please_ , just come back.”

“They are your friends,” Rhodey tried again, but it hurt him, it hurt him to try and send Tony away again.

“You are my Rhodey,” Tony gave back, tears freely flowing now and Rhodey pulled him in again.

“God, I’m sorry, I am so sorry,” Rhodey said into his hair, and he was crying now too, he had been stupid and hurt them both and he never wanted to see Tony like that ever again.

“Don’t leave me,” Tony whispered and Rhodey pulled him into his house and closed the door, all without letting go of Tony.

“Never, Tony, never, I promise, I was stupid, I’m sorry I hurt you, I just thought…” Rhodey trailed off and Tony laughed wetly into his shoulder.

“We’re going to have a talk about insecurities, tomorrow maybe or even later,” he told Rhodey who laughed as well.

“Bed right now?” he asked Tony who nodded and he steered them towards his bedroom, always keeping close contact and they only got out of their shoes before they crawled under the blankets.

Tony immediately crept close to him, and Rhodey pulled him in, keeping him save in his arms.

“Don’t leave me, okay?” Tony softly asked and Rhodey kissed his temple.

“Never. Never again. I’m sorry,” he told Tony who finally relaxed in his arms.

It didn’t take long for them to fall asleep, still clutching to each other tightly.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This story also has a [post on Tumblr](http://bloody-bee-tea.tumblr.com/post/153870632781/this-was-supposed-to-be-a-headcanon-and-turned)
> 
> You can always find me on my [tumblr](http://bloody-bee-tea.tumblr.com/)


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